Presidential debate 1988, George H.W. Bush, Michael Dukakis

Presidential debate 1988, George H.W. Bush, Michael Dukakis

Lennox McLendon / Associated Press

1988: The image of George H.W. Bush towering over his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, might be the second-most notable contrast in debate history (after the first Nixon-Kennedy debate). What you might remember: At the start of the second meeting  held at UCLAs Pauley Pavilion -- CNN newsman Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis, an opponent of the death penalty, one of the more shocking questions in debate history: Governor, if [your wife] Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? Dukakis bland response sealed his fate in the general election. What you might have forgotten: Just about everything else in the two debates.

1988: The image of George H.W. Bush towering over his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, might be the second-most notable contrast in debate history (after the first Nixon-Kennedy debate). What you might remember: At the start of the second meeting  held at UCLAs Pauley Pavilion -- CNN newsman Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis, an opponent of the death penalty, one of the more shocking questions in debate history: Governor, if [your wife] Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? Dukakis bland response sealed his fate in the general election. What you might have forgotten: Just about everything else in the two debates. (Lennox McLendon / Associated Press)

1988: The image of George H.W. Bush towering over his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, might be the second-most notable contrast in debate history (after the first Nixon-Kennedy debate). What you might remember: At the start of the second meeting  held at UCLAs Pauley Pavilion -- CNN newsman Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis, an opponent of the death penalty, one of the more shocking questions in debate history: Governor, if [your wife] Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer? Dukakis bland response sealed his fate in the general election. What you might have forgotten: Just about everything else in the two debates.